The Indian government agreed to hand over Nur Hossain, the prime accused in the seven-murder case in Narayanganj, Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali told parliament yesterday.
Responding to a supplementary question from Jatiya Party MP Pir Fazlur Rahman during the scheduled question-answer hour for the ministers, Abul Hassan said in her talks, Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had assured the extradition of Nur Hossain.
“During the Indian external affairs minister’s visit, we discussed the issue with her,” the foreign minister told the House.
“The best news is that the Indian government has agreed to extradite him. And we are sending a request letter to the Indian government,” he said.
Pir Fazlur Rahman asked whether the government would bring back Nur Hossain under the extradition treaty signed in January last year between Bangladesh and India.
Neither India nor Bangladesh has extradited any criminals since the signing of the deal that came into effect in October last year.
On June 15, Nur Hossain and his two accomplices were arrested in Kolkata from an apartment near the Kolkata airport for trespassing and illegal possession of arms. They are now facing trial in India.
Narayanganj City Corporation panel mayor Nazrul Islam, lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarkar and five others were abducted on April 27, allegedly by some Rab members and their corpses were found three days later in the Shitalakhya River.
The three alleged members, now in police custody, have confessed that they carried out the murder in exchange for money.
Quoting the victims’ family members, the media reports say that Nur Hossain, a BNP-turned Awami League leader, was behind the murder and he went into hiding.
They also said the alleged criminals crossed into India with the assistance of an Awami League MP.
On May 22, Bangladesh issued a warning to the Interpol to trace him.